Youth Dev in Arab World

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

This course examines key socio-economic and political issues facing today’s youth in the Arab World. Using a political economy approach, the course focuses on a number of thematic areas including education and training, employment and labour market dynamics, young women, formal and informal avenues for political participation, youth led protest movements, migration, socio-economic marginalisation and urban-rural divides. The course will use various case studies from across the region to examine the role of youth in the themes outlined, with a focus on North Africa, the Levant and the Gulf. The course will be policy oriented, highlighting the challenges and policy choices facing governments in the region as they attempt to integrate their young populations in their economies and polities. The course aims to introduce students to the policy making process and will include class simulations of meetings and roundtables of governments to better understand how policy is formulated at a national level. As part of the assessment process, students will be expected to write one policy focused research paper on a specific youth related issue.